Ironing machine



' J y 27,19 3- F. B. CLARK 2,325 75 IRONING MACHINE Filed Jan. 11 1940INVENTOR :emm/c 5. CLARK ATTORNEY Patented July 27, 1943 UNIT-ED} STATESPATENT -OFFICE IRONING MACHINE Frederic B. Clark, nnglewoba, N. J.ApplicationJanuary 11, 1940, Serial No. 313,312 (o1. 3s 9) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to an ironing machine and particularly toa'flatwor'k ironer of the type at present Widely used in largelaundries.

In this type of fiatwork ironer, there is a steam chest assemblyprovided with cradle-like depressions extending across the assemblytransversely with respect'to the direction of movement of the goodsbeing ironed. There are also ironing rolls disposed above andregistering with'the said depressions. These rolls are provided withpadding for pressing the goods'against the ironing surface of thedepressions. The goods to be ironed are normally delivered wet to theironer, direct from the centrifugal wringers, the ironing operationdries the goods;

Heretofore, it has been considered that drying is accomplished largelyby absorption 'of water vapor into the permeable padding of the ironingrolls'during the pressing of it against the goodsand subsequent escapeof thisvapor during the remainder'of one cycle of rotation of the rolls.It was; therefore, considered necessary to have a large number of rolls,ordinarily six to eight, under which the goods to be ironed are passedin succession in order to obtain adequate drying. In'fact the rollsconventionally are placed about as close together above the steam chestassembly as feasible'mechanically. The use of such a number of rollsinvolves not only a large expense for initial equipment (usually about athousand dollars per roll contained in the complete assembly), but alsoadditional operating and maintenance expense.

I have now found that I can obtain drying that is substantially equal toor better than that obtained with the usual number of rolls; by reducingthe number of rolls to approximately half or slightly more, provided Ido not decrease greatly the area of the upper surface of the chest.

My invention, briefly stated, comprises an ironer in which the space ofa large part of the steam chest ordinarily overlaid by rolls is exposeddirectly to the atmosphere, thus reducing the number of rolls andeliminating the depressions.

corresponding to the eliminated rolls.

The invention resides sub'stantiallyin the combination, construction,arrangement and relative location of the parts of the" machine described3 and under'the ironing rolls.

herein and will be illustrated by description in connection with theattached drawing to which reference 'is' made.

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional View of my ironer.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ironer.

padding assembly therearound.

conventional.

Certain parts of the drawing are diagrammatic. Parts not shown orfeatures not illustrated are There is'shown the steam chest assembly I,ordinarily of cast iron, provided with an upper ironing'surface ofsmooth metal. The upper part of the steam chest is provided also Withthe usual spaced transversely extending cradle-like depressions 21 Steamis admitted to the chest in any usual manner to give therein aconventional ironing temperature, say about 310 to 320 F.

The chest may be made in sections each of one depression andintermediate parts, the several sections being assembled end to end, togive the construction shown.

Mounted in usual manner above and registering with the depressions arethe ironing rolls 3 usually of steel or semi-steel which are driven, as,for example, through the sprockets 4, in the rollfa resilientlyyieldable felt or mat 6 and a cover cloth-l of cotton, wool, or thelike.

Tapes 8 pass over the guide rollers 9 and I0 travel of the exposedgoods.

The goods to be: ironed are fed in usual manner, tothe'bightbetween thesteam chest and the roller at the right in'Fig. 1. The movement of therolls 3 moves the goods over and against the ironing surface ofthecradles of the steam chest. For flat goodsin the form of relativelysmall pieces such as towels, additional means include suitably thedriven rollers l2 which rest to "advantage upon-thefcrests 0f theintermediate I portions of the chest between the cradles. It is "not"necessary that'these rollers IZ'be heated or covered. However, it isdesirable that these rollers be bare and that they be geared, throughmembers [3, l4, and I5, to move slightly faster peripherally than therolls 3. With this arrangement, the goods are smoothed on their upperside as they pass over the crests of the steam chest assembly. They mayrest upon the tapes, by gravity. I prefer them of three to six inchdiameter. Means such as the chain l3 and the sprockets l4 and I5suitably proportioned make the peripheral speeds of rollers l2 and rolls3 those desired. I have found little interference of the rollers [2 withthe rate of drying when they are small, say of diameter not more thanhalf and suitably a third to a fourth the diameter of the rolls 3. a

The tapes 8 of usual type strip the goods from the said rolls'androllers and hold the goods upon the steam chest at positions notoverlain bythe rolls or rollers. The goods are deliveredfromthe.

ironer in the direction of the arrow at the left of Fig. 1.

,When the ironing rolls are spaced a sufiicient distance apart, I mayuse four of the rolls in the smaller number of rolls, it-is necessarythat a the width ofthe spaces between-adjacent rolls be greatlyincreased. Thus,- itis necessary that the ironing rolls 3 attheirportionsnearest to each other be spaced by a distance about oneand-a quarter-times.thediameter of the rolls. For -some purposes thisdistance .should beincreased toone and one-halfto twice thediameter ofthe rolls. Using, for instance,-rolls 3 of 12- inch diameter to thenumber of .4, inthemachine shown in Figs; 1 and 2, therolls are spacedon 32 inch centers.v This gives aspace of twenty inches between thenearest portions pf 12-inch rollers. In another example, 15;. inch rollsare spaced at their nearest portionsata distance of twenty-four tothirty-two inches, which means that the rolls-are on 40 to 48inchcenters. These diameters of the rolls includethe padding.Without-thepadding the diameters are about half an. inch-less thanstated. 7 a 1 In placeof the set of four rolls; disposed as shown withrespecttothe'steam chest, there maybe used for some purposes afiatwork-ironer includingonly three rolls. In such a case the rolls arespaced asdescribed above and register with three cradle-likedepressions, the chest being made sufficiently-long to accommodatetherollers and provide the intermediatespaces, with feed and deliveryv endsarranged asshown in Figst land 2. Such a3-roll ironer-has practicallythe same drying capacity per hour as the conventional and moreexpensivefi-roll ironer of the same over-all length of steam chest as-myS-roll 'machine.

While. the invention is not' limited to any theory of explanation of'theresults obtained; it is;.my theory that drying ofthe goods-being ironedis caused largely by vaporization of water from the goods directlyintotheair, and not by vaporization through the'permeable packing ofassembly provided with an upper ironing surface the ironing rollsas'previously believed. If my theory is correct, the drying rate willnot vary directly with the number of ironing rolls, and such lack ofdirect relationship has been found to be the case.

The exposure of the goods to the air in passing over the increasedexposed surface of the steam chest in my machine is at least aseffective as the expensively accomplished additional distance of travelunder the permeable padding of the ironing rolls of machines usedheretofore.

It will be understood that the details given are for the purpose ofillustration, not restriction,

and that variations within the spirit of the in- .vention are intendedto be included within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A flatwork ironer comprising a steam chest assembly provided with anupper ironing surface "andwith'spaced transversely extending cradlelikedepressions therein, portions-of the chest of curvilinear crosssectionextendingupwardly between the depressions, ironing rolls disposed abeveandregistering with the said depressions, padding. disposed over therolls and normally contacting with the chest, means for passing goods tobe ironed between the ironing surface and the said-padding, and smalldriven rollers disposed between the saidrolls and above the saidportions for moving the goods over the said portions, the ironingrollsbeing spaced apart at their nearest portions at a distance at leastone and a quarter times the diameter of the padded rolls and being ofthe order'of at least twice the diameter of the said small rollers.

2. A flatwork ironer comprising a steam chest assembly provided with anupper ironing surface and with spaced transversely extending cradlelikedepressions therein, portions ofthe chest of curvilinear cross sectionextending upwardly between the depressions, ironing rolls disposed aboveand registering with the'said depressions, padding disposed over therolls and normally contactingwith thechest, means for passing goods tobe ironed between the ironing surface and the said padding, tapesextending through the ironer in the directionpf movement of the saidgoods, adapted to rest upon the goods, and to hold the goods .upontheironing, surface, small rollers disposed between the'said rolls, abovethe said portions of thesteam chest, and resting upon the-saidtapes,andmeans for driving the said rolls. and rollers.

3. A fiatwork ironer comprising a steam chest andwith'spaced'transversely extending cradlelike depressions therein,portions of the chest of curvilinear cross section extending upwardlybetween the depressions, ironing rolls disposed above and registeringwith the said depressions, padding disposed over the rolls and normallycontacting with the chest, means for passing goods to be ironed betweenthe. ironing surface and the said padding, small bare'rollers disposedbetween the said-rolls and above the said portions-of the steam chest,in close proximity thereto, and means for driving the said rolls androllers, the said means driving the small rollers slightly fasterthanthe said rolls to increase the ironing effect. 7

FREDERIC B. CLARK;

